Her first high profile role came in 1999, when she played the part of Sabe, the decoy queen in Star Wars Episode I. Her part in the film was kept secret in the lead up to the much anticipated release, and Natalie Portman was promoted as having played the roles of both the real and decoy queens so as not to spoil the surprise. A lot of fans still think Portman played both roles.

Since then, she has completed an impressive array of films, including the made-for-TV movie 'Princess of Thieves', the series 'Oliver Twist', and the thriller 'The Hole'. She also played a small role in 'Deflation'.

Hitting our cinema screens on Monday 6th April 2009, is a new hard hitting ad campaign featuring Keira Knightley as a victim of domestic violence. A collaboration between Grey London advertising agency and director Joe Wright, the video campaign seeks to highlight the taboo subject of domestic violence on behalf of charity Women’s Aid.

The 2 minute short film entitled “Cut” opens with Knightley heading home after a long day of filming. From the moment she arrives outside her apartment block, you can feel the tensions starting to build as she looks up to see her boyfriend standing at the window waiting for her arrival. The feeling of dread as she tentatively enters her lavish apartment, which is strangely silent and still. The shattered mirror, the blood on the floor. All this adds to the atmosphere, showing that domestic abuse is psychological not just physical, but it doesn’t prepare you for what’s to come.

A shocking assault ensues and the final scene sees Knightley curled in a ball on the floor screaming, with the sickening sounds of the kicks she is receiving. The advert ends as the camera pans out to reveal she is actually on a movie set and is completed with the strapline: “Isn’t it time someone called cut?”

A statistic is then given that every week two women die as a result of domestic violence and a request is made for donations to Women’s Aid.